MANAMA: Bahrain-based, Islamic banking major, Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG), on Sunday said that it had achieved $143million net profit in the first half, beating the projected figures for the six months.
The bank in a statement said that these figures confirmed the Group’s continuation to achieve the distinguished results in accordance with successful strategies business programmes applied relating to new products and services and expansion of customer base through increasing the number of branches.
“We are pleased with the financial results achieved by the Group in the first half of 2014, given the slowdown in global economic growth and the continuation of a number of political and economic risks surrounding the countries in the region,” Shaikh Saleh Abdulla Kamel, Chairman of Al Baraka Banking Group, said.
“Since the inception of the world crisis, the Group has followed an approach that is characterized by wisdom and hedge based on the continuation of cautious expansion and growth strategies and at the same time, building human, technical and material capabilities of the Group to face the various risks. It would not have been possible to realize all of these achievements, were it not for the long standing experience of the Group; and its stringent adherence to the Islamic banking model, which calls upon us to work on the development of land and serve the communities amongst which we operate, while being committed at all times to the highest ethical and professional standards”.
“The financial and operating results we achieved during the first half of 2014 are very good by all standards and have surpassed the targets projected in our plans for the current year, despite the current international and regional banking situations and slowdown in economic growth in major countries,” Abdulla Ammar Al Saudi, Deputy Chairman of ABG said.
“We would like to emphasize that our financing and investment policies and activities during the first half of this year were actively focused on investment opportunities arising from the current situation, whereby we capitalized on our substantial resources and extensive geographical network. However, our cautious and selective approach, together with the extreme caution exercised towards the markets and customers in implementing our financial and investment programs has created the desired results.”
“We estimated that our net income, during the first half of 2014 would slowdown due to several reasons, most notably that the profits of the first half of the year 2013 for the Group include some of the extraordinary non-current profits. We will note from the analysis of financial statements that the profit of Group for the second quarter of 2014 improved significantly compared with the first quarter, which confirms our determination to compensate for the slowdown in income during the second half of the year.”
Al Baraka Banking Group is a Bahrain Joint Stock Company licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by Central Bank of Bahrain, listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges. It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totaling around one billion and is rated by Standard & Poor’s at BB+ (long term) / B (short term). Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari’a. The authorized capital of Al Baraka is US$ 1.5 billion, while total equity is at about US$ 2 billion.
The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking Units and representative offices in fifteen countries, which in turn provide their services through over 485 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan, Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, including two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.